Captain Ben Stokes has revealed that he has decided not to participate in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction in Jeddah to extend his England career. Stokes has previously played for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 2017. Stokes was a notable exception to the list. England players at the auction, and under the new rules, if he were to withdraw after being acquired by a team at the mega-auction, provided it was for legal reasons, he would not be eligible to participate in the auction. the next two seasons of competition.
“(There is) so much cricket. It’s impossible to hide the fact that I’m at the end of my career. I obviously want to play as long as possible. Taking care of my body and taking care of myself as much as possible. as best I can, that’s the key to it.
“(It’s about) prioritizing games and when I play – obviously this year I’m in South Africa – so it’s about looking at what’s ahead of me and making the decision that I I think it’s right for me to be able to extend my career as long as possible. I want to wear this England shirt for as long as possible,” Stokes told BBC Sport ahead of the first match of England’s Test series against New Zealand in Christchurch.
In the upcoming match, England will debut left-hander Jacob Bethell, who will bat at number three. The team currently sits sixth in the current World Test Championship points table and is out of contention for the final, which will be held at Lord’s next year.
“If you saw this pitch in England, you would pray to God that you would win the toss and be able to bowl first. It’s amazing in New Zealand. You can look at the wicket and it plays completely differently than it looks. We We’ll have to see how we go tomorrow, see what conditions we encounter as the game goes on, and if we need to adapt to anything, we’ll try to do that.
“The World Test Championship is a bit confusing. I don’t look at it. Over a long period of time, if you play cricket really well, you get the results you want, you will eventually find yourself.” in the finale and in the mix.
“For me and this team, it’s about taking it game by game, series by series, and if you end up in the position you found yourself in in the final, then that’s great. I have only ever taken time to think about the World Test Championship,” concluded Stokes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
Leave a comment